Monday, July 07, 2008

ALP FIRES WARNING SHOT

Note to Iemma: A Plan to get out of this mess -

1. Ditch Costa!

2. Cancel plans to privatise electriticity. Even if you think it is a good idea, now is not the time in the world markets.

3. Talk personally to the public sector unions. After all they are the support base that got the Labor Government returned at the last election. The pay deal with the nurses shows the goverment may pay more than 2.5%, but those offsets!! Why cuts days off and award based sick leave at a time of shortages of public sector employees, including nurses? Why review with a view to further cuts in numbers, managerial positions? Why more workplace reform? There has been so much workplace reform in the public sector that efficiency is now seriously affected.

4. Talk seriously and honestly with the citizens of NSW about what your government can achieve and can afford in terms of building infrastructure. The NSW public are not stupid and I believe would appreciate you being straight with them. Besides the public care more about the operating efficiency of the trains, transport system, hospitals, schools, child protection system and welfare than they do about momunents to some politician's term of office and thats what they want, evidence that operating efficiency has improved.

5. Stop jumping on every right wing band wagon trumpeted by the conservative media and show some spine in supporting party policy on human rights and civil liberties.

Angela D’Amore, the Labor MP for Drummoyne in Sydney’s inner-west, has fired a warning shot over the bows of Premier Morris Iemma. Coming from a backbencher who is only five years into her political career, it may seem like passing grapeshot that carries no menace.

That would be a mistake.

D’Amore is a fully-fledged product of the NSW Labor Party. Head office gifted her the Drummoyne seat in 2003 without a pre-selection and gave it to her again in 2007. Little wonder she’s a fierce party HQ loyalist.

Her working career before parliament was in the trade unions. She was as an officer of the Municipal Employees Union and later became an industrial officer with the NSW Nurses' Association.

Giving her inaugural speech in the Legislative Assembly on May 16, 2003, she said:

I thank the Nurses Association, the Municipal Employees Union, the Australian Workers Union, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, the Public Service Association, the National Union of Workers and in particular the Labor Council for always standing by my side during the campaign.

Little wonder she’s a Unions NSW loyalist too.

At a personal level, she is married to Richard Tripodi, who happens to be the brother of Ports and Waterways Minister Joe Tripodi, one of the right-wing faction’s heavyweights.

The daughter of first generation Italian migrants, she shares the same cultural heritage as Premier Morris Iemma, Tripodi and Planning Minister Frank Sartor, the sons of first generation Italian migrants. In private conversation they slip easily into Italian and exchange "buon giornos" and "ciaos" in the corridors.

So when D’Amore decided to unload on the Premier and his ministers in an "exclusive" in yesterday’s Sun Herald, then significant shifts are occurring in the NSW ALP.

She accused ministers of being out of touch and when asked if she was directing her comments at Iemma, D'Amore said: "It's directed at the whole Government but people know who's at the head of the Government."

ALP general secretary Karl Bitar called on D’Amore to give her damning assessment to the media after Iemma’s extraordinarily rash decision not to accept the invitation to attend last Friday’s meeting of the party’s governing body, the administrative committee. His non-attendance has deepened the split between the Iemma-Costa Cabinet and the party.

This is an unprecedented situation: having lost the support of the ALP rank and file and the unions for the privatisation of the state’s power industry, Iemma and Treasurer Costa are now relying on the Opposition parties, the Liberals and Nationals, to secure the sell-off.

The question must be asked: without the backing of the ALP and making itself a hostage to the Coalition, can the Iemma Government continue to call itself "Labor" in the full meaning of the term?

In this explosive political environment, the ALP’s message delivered via D’Amore is this --

About Me

Dear Fellow Bloggers,
For some time I have thought about starting a left of centre news and commentary service and I have tried to do this by using email. But as some good, but email overloaded friends have suggested, a better way to go may be by blogging.
So here it is! Jenny's Red News. My primary interests are left of centre politics and the very important question of how can we get left of centre parties, groups and grouplets in Australia working together more co-operatively. The right of centre predominates politics in this country at the present time, and they are on the march.
We on the left of centre need to work together more co-operatively and constructively to put the left of centre agenda out there, for the perusal and consumption of the Australian people.
Particular topics that will be reported on and on which comments are welcome are:
Industrial relations - Opposition to Workchoices
Refugee and Asylum Seekers
Human Rights
Civil Liberties
Opposition to the Welfare to Work Changes
Health System Reform
Aboriginal Health and Reconciliation
Jenny Haines
posted by JENNY'S RED NEWS at 12:50 AM 0 comments